Chilled Noodles

Spring is here; that means its time for cool, refreshing food! Whenever I'm in Taiwan, I have to have chilled noodles with garlicky sesame paste (liang2 mian4). It's so simple, yet so amazing. I hate how I can't get a bowl in the states...maybe in L.A....definitely in Vancouver...but certainly not in Texas. *Tear*

To temper my yearning, I make cold Korean crystal noodles and Japanese-style cold noodles. I don't use recipes, so my take is probably not authentically Korean or Japanese. Oh, and I don't use measurements. Everything is measured to taste.

Korean Crystal Noodles

Ingredients

Korean sweet potato noodles (boil and rinse with ice water)

green onions

minced garlic

dried small shrimp

grated daikon radish

sugar

soy sauce

sesame oil

sesame seed

Saute daikon radish, garlic, green onions, and dried shrimp until cooked, and set aside to cool. Mix sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and a couple drops of water until the sugar dissolves. Once the sauteed mixture has cooled, dump the sauce mixture on the strained chilled noodles and toss the noodles until coated. Add the sauteed mixture, and sprinkle sesame seeds.

You can saute any veggie mixture to go with the noodles.

Cold Green Tea Noodles

Ingredients

Noodles

green tea noodles (boil and rinse with ice water)

grated carrots

soba sauce

sesame oil

lemon juice

Cucumber Salad

slice any type of cucumbers

Japanese rice vinegar

pinch of salt

even smaller pinch of sugar

Five-spice Chicken

any part of the chicken and marinate in the following for a day or two:

Chinese five-spice

any kind of wine

some soy sauce

For the noodles, just mix the strained noodles together with soba sauce, sesame oil, and some lemon juice, and leave the grated carrots for garnish. Toss the cucumber salad ingredients together in a bowl. Bake, grill, or pan fry the chicken.

You can make any meat and veggie side to go with the noodles.